Update, (post 12) Should we or shouldn't we? Or, am I crazy?

[jent]

So, we are planning to go to Florida next month to visit family. We know the week we're going (DH's spring break) but other than that we haven't made specific plans. A little background: DH's grandmother lives in Florida, and my parents spend their winters there. We try to go visit once a year and split the time in half visiting each. This year, we've been toying with the idea of going to WDW for part of the trip-- but, for various reasons, we haven't done any advance planning. If we did go, we'd see DH's granny for part of the trip (she's about a 2hr drive from Orlando), and then my parents would meet up & do WDW with us.

I have to say, I wasn't enthusiastic about doing WDW at first- my parents suggested it. But now the idea started to grow on me, so I started doing some research- now I'm leaning towards going, but DH is balking.

The pros:
-- DD is at a great age: will be 5 in April, LOVES the Princesses and now the fairies
-- Next year DD starts school, so planning will be tougher


The cons:
-- We can only do a short trip (3 days max at the parks)
-- DD is won't be 40 inches, so not able to ride the big rides
-- It is "peak" season: highest prices, and no chance of any deal (my parents can get a deal on tickets I think as FL residents, but that's it)
-- We are planning very very late, so probably will have difficulty getting ADR's.

The other:
-- We'll likely have a "big" WDW trip at some point when DD is older, so I don't necessarily feel like we have to do it all this trip.
-- I'm on the fence about whether it's ok to splurge on this trip. We haven't taken a fancy vacation in years-- previous trips to FL, we stayed with my parents. DH's parents live in VT, and that's our other place to visit. We did go to England with DH's parents to visit family, but they insisted on paying the way b/c it was a family trip.

So, what do you all think? Am I crazy to want to go? Is 3 days going to feel much too short? Is it not worth it if DD can't go on "big" rides and if I can't get reservations to a Princess character meal?

[JElaineB]

I think it would be fun, as long as you don't have expectations that you will see or do everything in 3 days (and it sounds like you don't) you'll be fine. I bet you can still find some ADRs, not sure about character meals though. Even if not you can eat quick serve, snacks or at the resort/off-property depending on where you are staying.

[TwinFoxes]

I doubt at 5 she's dying to do the E-ticket rides anyway. Go! :) I think you are going with the right expectations. Even if you'd don't get ADRs you can do counter service and be fine. Have fun if you go. :)

[WatchingThemGrow]

We usually hit the parks for one day while we're on the way to see family in FL. It works out and gives us a "fun" time in the midst of doing grandparent stuff.

[SnuggleBuggles]

A few year ago we visited dh's grandparents over near Titusville. We did the Space Center, the beach, Sea World and Typhoon Lagoon+ Downtown Disney. We stayed just overnight in Orlando one night to do Sea World and Typhoon Lagoon. It was easy and uncomplicated. I would have done one of the DW parks but dh didn't want to. The only thing was that it was spring break week (Easter week) and all the parks (including the ones we went to) closed to capacity issues by 11am-12pm. So, no lazy rolling into the parks. Otherwise, I really liked just going to the parks and not making them a big deal. You do what you can, you eat when you are hungry at the closest place and you just relax. :) It'll be fun!

[jent]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys! So, if we aren't able to book a character meal, will DD still be able to meet princesses? That's all she knows about Disney at this point: that it's where the princesses live. If we don't meet any, that will be a sore disappointment.

And, are there still enough rides/attractions to enjoy? I found a list of rides she can't go on, but not one that says what she can do. DD is tiny like me, and I clearly remember from childhood being frustrated that I couldn't go on rides that my peers could.

[Seitvonzu]

we just went with our 4 year old in january. she is 41+ inches, but i think even if she wasn't quite 40 there would have been PLENTY to ride. pretty much everything in fantasyland. pretty much everything at magic kingdom other than space mountain? i think if i were you i'd focus on magic kingdom-- i'd do two if not all your 3 days there. there are SO many attractions and not much your child can't do. the "regular" princesses "live" at the town hall at the start of main street --so you can meet them any time (after waiting in line of course). that's the same place that mickey/minnie are permanently housed. rapunzel has her own spot-- and the line can get really long. even during off season we waited 40 minutes to "meet" rapunzel (she wasn't going to be at any of our character meals so this was our only chance and she is a favorite in our household)-- that was the longest wait we had for ANYTHING the whole time we were on property (7 days)-- she's definitely still a headliner.

i think you'll be fine not doing ADRs... we did do cinderella's royal table, after doing the whole bibbidy boppity boutique business (MIL was adamant about doing that, so i added the dinner for me ;)). it is a good way to hit the princesses without waiting in a line, but honestly, by the time ariel came around (3 princesses we saw that meal) my child was more into cramming her appetizer into her mouth than getting the signature/picture/conversation. i loved seeing inside the castle and thought the food was good. and we did really luck out after our picture with cinderella (before you go in for your meal) b/c there was no line for pics with cindy and she came over and talked to us for at least 5 minutes before our name got called for dinner. without that interaction, i'm not sure my starstruck child would have even enjoyed the meal enough to justify it. (although she loves the princess movies, my child HIGHLY prefered what she called "fuzzy" characters-- pooh, white rabbit, marie from the aristocrats, etc)

since we stayed on property w/ free dining we did other ADRS too, but i really do think they eat up time from going on attractions. even staying 6 nights, 7 days (we did parks all days), i felt like we ran out of time to do certain things and i didn't get tired of MK even though we went there 3 full days. without free dining we'd have done less sit down meals , for sure. i think the counter service options (esp at epcot) are not so bad.... at MK we ate at columbia harbor house twice, because we really enjoyed our lobster rolls the first day :) epcot has SO many great counter options i could have ate there the whole vacation... i had the best quiche i've EVER tasted at the france counter this year. (and i think i make pretty good quiche , as does my mother and the teahouse a 1/2 mile from my house)

we've been "playing disney" since we got home. our calico critters dollhouse is "under construction" as it changes to the Haunted Mansion. we spent 1.5 hours at our garden we belong to pretending we were brer fox and brer bear from splash mountain. i bought a cd of park music that on constant car rotation. a friend is planning a trip to CA and added a disneyland day and i'm completely envious :) we want to go back right now!!! so... my vote is DO it :)

[jent]

Seitvonzu, thanks for the detailed review-- sounds like your DD & mine are into the same things. I could totally see DD playing WDW with her toys after we get back. Now I just have to convince DH...

[KateD5]

If you really want to do a Character dining experience, keep calling the reservation line. People cancel. We couldn't get an advanced reservation but managed to get one the day of by calling and asking for any cancellations. The online dining reservation tool also shows you other options if what you want isn't available. Have fun!

[klwa]

You'll be fine meeting princesses without a character meal!

At Magic Kingdom, you can meet the princesses at Town Hall.

At Epcot, several princesses are in their respective countries. (not all princesses, but, Snow White in Germany, Mulan in China, Jasmine in Morocco, Aurora & Belle in France, Alice & Mary Poppins in England)

At DHS, you can see the Beauty & the Beast stage show & the Little Mermaid show, both with live actors.

As for the rides, as PP mentioned, most of the rides have no height restriction. It's only the big ones & they can be avoided easily.

[DebbieJ]

Totally go! We have family in FL and have done day trips several times.

[jent]

So, we are going!!!:yay: DH grudgingly agreed it was a good idea. Got our reservations made this weekend (planning to stay at Port Orleans- Riverside, which looks really cool). And I even got an ADR for Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner! (I used the online ADR site- and it seems like the availability on that changes every hour. Possibly every 5 minutes.)

I'm sure I will be posting with lots more questions. I've been reading the DISboards (thought that place is kind of TMI).

Thanks for all your advice!

[WatchingThemGrow]

love POR! We were just looking at pictures from there today. We had a great time at the fishin' hole one morning!

[klwa]

Yay! We stayed at POR when DS was 2. Pretty nice. :)

[GoBlue]

GO!!!

We just got back from 6 days/5 nights with DD1 (almost 3) and DD2 (7 months). If the only thing we had done was meet the Princesses and the Fairies and see the parades and fireworks it would have been worth it. And we did WAY more than that. Trust me....there is nothing like seeing your DD run into Cinderella's arms shrieking with glee, and then truly believing that she had a conversation with Cinderella. It was so great. You want to capture the magic of this age before she outgrows it. You won't regret it......

Have fun!!

[GoBlue]

I recommend the easywdw.com blog.....that guy knows his stuff.

Have fun!!!!!!